


The Light of a Match

by TrekFaerie



Category: The Lorax (2012), The Lorax - Dr. Seuss
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, F/M, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-06
Updated: 2013-01-06
Packaged: 2017-11-23 22:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/626981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrekFaerie/pseuds/TrekFaerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Once-ler has a serious problem with people who have poor taste in tobacco products.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Light of a Match

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Fanart](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/15359) by earthcookies. 



For weeks, he would walk past the same protestor every day on his walk to work: a red-headed girl holding a homemade sign and smoking a limp cigarette. She wasn’t like the other ones, the ones who tried to sabotage his machines or threw paint on people wearing thneeds—namely, she looked like she had never spent a night in a county jail. She looked as angry as them, though.

One day, he finally stopped, looking down at her over his sunglasses. “… C’mon.” He held a gloved hand out to her.

She stared at his hand like it had a gun in it. “What?”

“If you’re going to destroy your lungs, do it with something good, not cheap cigarettes and smog.”

She didn’t take his hand, but he hadn’t really expected her to. She did, however, allow him to keep that hand on her back as he showed her around the factory, the mansion, his office. It was in his office that he searched through his desk until he found a package of expensive cigars. “Trust me, these are much better. For starters, you can’t find them behind the counter at a convenience store.”

He handed her a cigar— dark brown with a gold paper ring— flicked on his trusty lighter, and held it out to her. The flame flickered in her eyes, and it distracted him for a little while.

It was when he came back to reality that he noticed the redness of her eyes, the shiny tracks of tears running down her cheeks. She was crying, of all things—but, it wasn’t a sad sort of crying. She was still looking at him like she usually did, like he was the source of all evil and suffering in the world. Which, in her mind, he was. “Oh, wow, are you crying? What am I saying, of course you’re crying, that’s really obvious. Just…” He reached into his pocket and took out a little green handkerchief. “Why? Why are you crying?”

She slapped his hand away when he tried to give her the handkerchief. “Because you’re ruining everything by being really cute!”

The only sounds in the room were the churning of factories and the far-off coughing of forest animals. “… What?”

“Y-You backtrack over your words when you realize you said something stupid. You make really weird noises at press conferences when you think the microphones are off. You dress like you’re supposed to be some kind of weird rock star’s stage name, not an evil businessman. What you’re doing is so serious, but I just can’t take you seriously. At all.” She sniffed. “You’re adorable.”

He tapped his finger against his lip, taking in this new information. “… So, is that why you’re always sitting in front of my factory every day? Because I’m cute?”

“No, because you’re a capitalistic pig who’s killing the environment.”

“And I’m cute?”

“See, now you’re going to get stuck on that, and now I’m never going to change anything!” She wiped her eyes with a dusty sleeve. “I hate you.”

“… C’mon, I’m not all that bad.” He took the handkerchief and wiped off one of the tears before it could fall off her face. “What’s your name?”

“Audrey.”

“I’m the Once-ler… But, you probably already knew that.”

“Nobody actually calls you by your real name. Everyone just calls you ‘that green jerk.’”

“Well, you can call me the Once-ler. Just you. The rest can keep calling me a jerk.” He took her hand and closed it around the cigar packet. “You can keep these, too. Call it a gift.”

The tears were all gone, but the look remained. “I’m not going to use them.”

“It’s the thought that counts, right?”

The next time he walked past her, she was back to her cheap cigarettes. But, he swore he caught her once, off to the side of the factory, a flash of gold in the light of a match.


End file.
